He returned to the United States in 1933 to head the Radio Real Estate Corporation, but was soon selected by Naval Secretary Claude A. Swanson for the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the administration of his distant cousin, President Franklin Roosevelt.[2] He served in the position from March 17, 1933 to February 22, 1936. He became the fourth Roosevelt and fifth member of the Roosevelt family to occupy that office, after Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt (the current president at the time), Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. and Theodore Douglas Robinson.[1][2] Due to Swanson's poor health, Roosevelt was at times Acting Secretary. He made many tours of inspection and speeches, calling for the strengthening of the navy as a deterrent to war.[1][3]